Pitch, Please!

Hello writerly-type-friends!
 
So I’ve got a rep (according to my friend Lindsey) as being the “pitch whisperer.”
 
I don’t know about all that, but I do know that I actually enjoy writing them, and I had a decent amount of success soliciting agent “likes” during PitMad. So in an effort to both write down what I did so I remember, and share my strategy with those who have asked I decided to put it here in blog form.
 
DO YOUR RESEARCH
 
So my first not-exactly-pro tip is to read the instructions on whatever pitch contest you are entering. Research how to write a pitch. I sampled a few different blog posts (from agents and writers) to discern what exactly agents are looking for when they read through these.
 
            Some of the blogs I checked out:

• Carly Waters: http://writersinthestormblog.com/2014/09/the-ultimate-writers-guide-to-twitter-pitch-contests/
• Writeability: http://avajae.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-to-write-great-twitter-pitch.html
• And of course, Brenda Drake: http://www.brenda-drake.com/pitmad/

If nothing else, this gives you some tips about the rules. I saw so many people missing out on valuable hashtags and shooting out tweets that weren’t ready. When you’re trying to attract an agent in about 35 characters, it’s not easy.
 
MY PROCESS DURING THE LAST PITMAD
 
Think about the three most important elements of your story. If you were going to say what the three coolest aspects of your story are, write them down.
 
 

• My main character helps her Gran find her long-lost first love.
• She does so using an obituary, old romance novels, and short stories.
• While doing so, she learns to forgive some of her Dad’s mistakes.
• Oh yeah, one more- it takes place in ALASKA!

 
Now there are about 3 million other things I want to convey in these pitches, but I only have so many characters to use. Especially when you factor in that I need #PITMAD, #YA, and #CON.
 
So then you try to factor in as many “cool” things as you can. They keep saying that agents look at later blog posts to piece together a story out of three pitches, but I’m not too sure. I’d rather take three elements and let them stand alone (at least a little bit).
 
Basically, make your story sound awesome, while creating some stakes.
 
Here are my tweets:
 
Dante Medema ‏‪@DanteMedema Sep 8
Girl learns to forgive her father’s mistakes while solving a haunting family mystery. Why won't anyone talk about "Ace"? ‪#PitMad ‪#YA ‪#CON
 
This received my least amount of “likes”, and I wasn’t terribly surprised. There weren’t any stakes involved, it doesn’t place an awesome setting, and there is no understanding of who Ace is. This one garnered one agent like.
 
Dante Medema ‏‪@DanteMedema Sep 8
Girl stuck in Alaska spends summer with boy-next-door fulfilling Gran’s last wish: Will she find Gran's first love in time? ‪#PitMad ‪#YA ‪#CON
 
So you can see here, there are stakes. It’s her Gran’s last wish- will she make it in time? Plus, it adds in the element that there might be a romance on the horizon for my main character. Another tip- don’t waste time with names. General quick description in YA is fine. Boy/Girl are often fewer characters than their name and it’s not going to matter in the long run. This one received three agent “likes.”
 
 
Dante Medema ‏‪@DanteMedema Sep 8
Girl uses romance novels, an obituary, and short stories to find her dying gran’s first love during a summer in Alaska. ‪#PitMad ‪#YA ‪#CON
 
By far, my favorite pitch that I created during PitMad for this book. You can see it has something unique about the book, an awesome setting, and stakes. It tells you something about the story in just a few words, and it seemed to do the job because (to my great surprise), it attracted eight agent and two editor “likes.”  
 
IN CONCLUSION
 
Practice. As you can see, I put three out and got varying responses, but after the fact I can look back and really see what worked best for my novel. Do you research, listen to what the agent and writer blogs have for instruction, and then get some help! Workshop your pitches within the writing community and look for those awesome people that are out there championing each other’s journey to greatness.
 
Hope this helps!
 
Happy writing,
Dante